A Half Million Past the Hour

Despite—or is it because of—a price tag of $507,000, Vacheron Constantin’s Platinum Maîtres Cabinotiers Skeleton Minute Repeater is sure to become the holy grail for collectors (only 15 were made). Invented in 1720, a minute repeater “sings” the time, sounding the hours in a low tone and the minutes in a higher one—a feature Napoléon found came in handy when he needed to tell time in the dark. The Platinum Skeleton takes about 2,000 hours to build, plus 320 hours to assemble its 330 components. Still not sold? Check out the other stats. vacheron-constantin.com